January 2011

The next few posts I'm going to be linking up with Robin at Farewell Stranger who writes a beautifully personal PPD blog.  She's doing a series of blog posts which look back at the wonderful moments of the past year despite struggling through motherhood and PPD.  I'm doing this series along with her because I desperately want to remember the first year of Natalie's life as something positive and beautiful instead of full of pain, frustration, anger, anxiety and darkness.

BABY SHOWER TIME!

Four of my lovely and closest friends threw me a gorgeous baby shower full of homemade goodies.  My two super crafty friends Heather and Amy spearheaded this endeavor and it was a wonderful afternoon with good food, friends and lots of gifts and love for Natalie!

Playing the standard baby shower game where guests estimate the mother's baby bump using tulle and whoever got the closest won a prize.  This is my BFF (28 isn't too old to still be using that phrase, right?) Amy measuring my belly while her (at the time) kindergarten daughter Emma looks on.  Amy is a Navy wife and I was lucky to have her "stationed" in our area for the past year while her husband was stationed overseas.  I couldn't have made it through the past few years without her.

Did I mention that she's super crafty too?  Yeah.  She made this blanket for Natalie.

And then there's Heather....the other crafty friend who did all this stuff!

Like this banner.....

PS: the theme was turquoise and green apple which are also the colors of Natalie's nursery.

Oh and Heather?  Yeah she's also a fabulous cake and cupcake maker.

Opening up presents rocking out a uber chic headband given to me by another hostess Kate who gave it to me for Christmas because she wanted me to remember that I wasn't just "Natalie's mother" but I was still LAURA above everything else.  I should probably wear that headband more often and keep those wise words in mind.

Heather's mother bought the receiving blankets that I registered for and then embroidered Natalie's name all over them with fun pictures.  This one is by far my favorite because it's a basketball and two volleyballs.

The diaper cake, blanket and matching outfit that Amy made for Natalie.  There was so much love put into this shower that even now - almost a year later, I'm in awe that people loved my baby this much even before they had met her.

And the coolest present of the shower?  Natalie's first "shoe" closet given to me by two former coworkers who, when we all three worked together, formed an intense bond over our love for teaching in.....high heels.

Hey Robin.....if you're reading this.....even though this is only the first post I've made in this series, I can already tell this is going to be good for my soul.....so thanks for the inspiration.

Baby Shower Bonanza

On Sunday, November 20th my mother and I threw a small shower for my very good friend Kate in celebration of her little girl that is due at the beginning of January.  Kate and I have known each other since we were born - literally.  Our mothers met in a Bible Study class when they were both pregnant and then worked together at a pre-school for many years as well.  Kate and I grew up together and she is a staple figure in all of my childhood photos.  In the past few years she has thrown not just one, but TWO beautiful showers for me - one for the wedding and the other for Natalie.  My mother and I were both so excited to be able to put together a beautiful shower for Kate and her little girl Audrey.

The cake table in the garden room.

The cake people were able to mimic the scroll work of the invitation onto the cake.  Gorgeous!

**Oh...and hello Miss Natalie and Andy the pup in the background!**

I'm so excited that Natalie will have a life-long friend just like Kate and I did.  It's so fun to see our 8 year-old dreams and life plans come to fruition!  We were both bridesmaids in each other's weddings and now our little girls are going to be so close in age and will be playmates!

This was a baby shower game that I was inspired by on Pinterest - it's How to Take Care of Audrey....MAD LIBS!

First you fill out the envelope with ANY word that comes to mind that fits the part of speech - verb, noun, adjective, etc.

Then you fill in the blanks with the corresponding word and voila!  Advice for Kate and her husband Karl on how to take care of baby Audrey.  Some of them turned out to be pretty funny and it was a great way to break the ice with everyone.

The food table consisted of: chicken salad and croissants, veggie platter, nuts, fruit salad, quiche and spicy crab dip with crackers.  Yummy.

The table in it's entirety.  Kate is decorating the nursery in creams, browns and greens with a more pastoral feel so we went more natural in the colors.  Luckily those are the same colors as my house and I was able to use many of my decorations from home.

Kate and her cake!  You can't even tell she's pregnant in this picture!  She looks FANTASTIC!

Ahh...there's the baby bump...and the grandma-to-be, Miss Becky.

Kate in the middle with my mom and me on either side!

Happy shower Kate!  I can't wait to meet baby Audrey!

And fingers crossed she comes out with beautiful ginger locks!

Parties and such

Since I have a whole afternoon ahead of me and one can only watch so much television, I will fill you in on a few of the wedding festivities that have occured and that are coming up soon.

Saturday, January 16th:
My four lovely bridesmaids, Kate, Jennifer, Beri and Amy threw me a fun shower at Beri's house about twenty minutes north of my house. Beri has a wonderful open lay-out in her home that was perfect for entertaining. I had several of my girlfriends there from all different aspects of my life: childhood friends Kate and Heather, college friend Kelly and then my "grown up" friend Jennifer as well as several work friends from my previous school. The theme was "Around the Clock" and each invitation had been sent out with a specific time attached - the person had to buy an item for me to use during that particular time. Of course the present I wanted to open first was the 3:00AM! Beri had chose the time recipients carefully and one of my more fun-loving friends from MMS Michelle and Sue had been chosen. There I was, sitting in the middle of a circle surrounded by friends...and my mother, mother-in-law and Mema-in-law...I opened their present for 3:00AM: The Joy of Sex book. Luckily, Craig's family has a great sense of humor and laughed right along with everyone else. My girls did a fantastic job coordinating the food and beverages with the Around the Clock theme as well as the cake. It reminded me of what special women I have in my life for friends.

Sunday, January 17th:
My parents have lived in the same house for around 30 years and I attended the same elementary, middle and high schools that my much older brothers attended. I was baptized at the church that my parents still attend to this day. Having said that, my parents have developed deep friendship bonds with many people in the area...from being Cub Scout leaders together, to serving on PTA boards, to Bunco groups and finally through the church where my mother worked for many years. Although we don't have a lot of family in the area (all uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins were out of town) I grew up with a sense of community as our family. Five of these women, including my wonderful godmother, chose to throw me a wedding shower with all of these extended family members! It was at my godmother's house on Sunday afternoon and it was lovely. The women had brought out all their favorite buffet serving dishes as well as a gorgeous punch bowl for the event. There was a delicious chicken salad, a fruit salad and my favorite thing - an array of cupcakes! Of course, I made sure that a few red velvet ones were stashed away for the groom-to-be. The funniest thing was that when I was introducing everyone to one another, specifically to Craig's mom and Mema...most of the people would say "I remember when Betty found out she was pregnant," or "I've known Laura since before she was born." Looking around, I did see a definite sense of family - I loved the fact that Ms. Anne, one of my mother's former coworkers, could tell stories of me coming into her office at church to chat and eat chocolates when I was in middle school. It meant a lot to my mother, seeing how much dedication, time, effort and true joy was put into creating such a lovely event for her daughter.

Things that are coming up:
Wednesday, February 24th:
The MMS faculty wedding shower for Craig and myself. It's a tailgating theme with no punch or vegetables allowed.

Saturday, February 20th:
Craig's bachelor party...a few weeks ago, I was working one of Craig's select basketball tournaments because he had to go coach his school team and while I was up there, I chatted with his best buddy and best man Ron about his bachelor party. I was able to give Ron some ideas that Craig had mentioned to me, as well as a potential invite list. Craig and 6 of his buddies are going to meet at our house and get in a limo to go eat in downtown Dallas and then go to a Mavs basketball game together. I think they plan on going to a few bars afterwards and then having the limo bring them back to our house. Craig and Ron both have a basketball tournament going on this particular weekend, so guess who volunteered to open up the gyms and get the tourney running on Sunday morning so the boys can sleep in? Yes...I am a very good fiance.

Early March, after Amy arrives in town:
My bachelorette party...now, I'm not a huge fan of the crazy, wild bachelorette party because I don't need to "mourn" the passing of my singlehood. I'm ready to be married...and ready to be Craig's wife. I told my friends that I wanted a nice dinner and drinks out with my closest 10 or so friends - the people that have really been involved in my life for the past few years during my desperate search for a hubby. As far as the details go, I'm not really sure what's going to happen, but hopefully it will be fun!